Character Analysis Of The Godfather

At the beginning of the 1970s, two men, by the names of Martin Scorcese and Robert De Niro, met and started an extremely successful and world renowned string of movie director/actor collaborations. Over the course of 22 years,spawning from 1973, with their first film Mean Streets, to 1995, with their most recent work Casino, the duo paired up for 8 movies, most of which are considered some of the greatest films of all time. The most notable, however, would have to be their 1990 movie Goodfellas, a classic film which was nominated for 6 oscars, winning one, and named the greatest film of all time by British film magazine Total Film, an organized crime movie which is one of my favorite movies.

The gangster genre within films in America has accomplished numerous positive criticisms and constant willing audiences due to containing outstanding spectacles and mind-blowing action. The Godfather, being second on the IMDb Top 250 Movies, has set a new popular concept to life within the Mafia from their point of view. Doing so, creating a positive association. Yet within Italy, the same topic contains a complete different view. Movies such as I Cento Passi demonstrate unenthusiastic view by those whom are outside yet negatively affected by those members. Unlike American films, the gangsters are not as often viewed at the protagonist and are the main causes for the problematic events. But how different is Italian Mafia and American

Francis Ford Coppola directed the gangster crime drama film, The Godfather (1972), inspired by the novel of the same name, written by Author Mario Puzo. The film plays out in the beginning how Don Corleone declined to join the narcotics business with notorious drug lord Sollozzo. With this in mind, one of the greatest gangster films created by a man who decided to lead, and not follows. Moreover, explaining the formalist approach for this film which covers an array of elements that include plot structure, camera techniques, editing, mise en scene, and sound. The following film critique will analyze “The Godfather,” beginning by utilizing the formalist approach theory, camera technique and sound gradually introducing additional theories

His role in The Godfather is that of the Don, or a commanding officer. He climbs the social ladder in the Corleone family, starting as a member and gains a higher reputation by killing the man believed to have orchestrated the attacks against his father, Virgil Sollozzo, and a corrupt police captain paid by Sollozzo. Michael then travels to Sicily and doesn’t move up in the family for a while. Two years later, his brother Sonny Corleone, who was the acting head of the family after their father was injured, was shot in a phone booth. Michael then returns to America to help out with the family: he assumes Sonny’s role as his father’s heir apparent, a Vice President who steps in when the Don is injured or killed. Once the Don retires, he becomes the new Don and takes over as the head of the crime family.

“ They rely on a viewer's preconceived idea of how a particular person or ethnic group should act and merely fulfill these expectations. External signs and cues are used to indicate and suggest the veneer of culture. Dress, eating habits, and language accents are exaggerated…” Even though the directors of the movie did not directly refer to Italian Americans, the way they portrayed the characters based on their language, clothes, food and etc. indirectly told the audience that the characters were of Italian background. By seeing this occur in every movie and show, the public got accustomed to seeing Italian Americans as the mafia and failed to recognize that the mafia was only a small percentage of Italian Americans and the rest were just like ordinary people trying to make a better life.

The Godfather and Goodfellas are both considered “mafia movies.” Both of these films portray some form of organized crime committed by Italians. They mutually romanticize the mob lifestyle and depict it with pure clarity. Although both of these movies portray the lives of the same kind of people, they are more than just a simple characterization. Violence plays a major role in each of these films. The Godfather and Goodfellas are obviously very similar. However, they also have several aspects that differ from one another.

Goodfellas directed by Martin Scorsese in 1990. This film is an account told by a young man named Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who is an Irish-Italian teen who aspires to become part of the Mafia at a young age. He later marries a Jewish girl named Karen (Lorraine Bracco) who soon found her life to become absorbed with the Mafia, almost more so than Henry. This movie shadows Henry’s life in the Mafia for about 30 years. It tells of his ideas and infatuations with life consisting of unlimited power and extreme “highs” down to the lows, disloyalty, and deterioration that comes with life in the Mafia. Three other main characters of this film are the “wiseguys”. Paul “Paulie” Cicero (Paul Sovino), who is known as the boss of the neighborhood and becomes a “father” to Henry. Even though his ranking in the Mafia lands him the title of a “bad Guy” he does have a compassionate side. Jimmy “the Gent” Conway (Robert De Niro) is more of your lower level mobster, who just does what Paulie tells him to do. Since he is Irish he can’t be a big wig in the mafia. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) is another one of Paulie’s trusted mobsters and actual member of the family. He is a loose cannon ready to explode at any time, who has grown up in the mob family.

The Godfather is the story of a Mafia family. It follows the rise of Michael Corleone within the family. Michael was once a war hero and did not want to be involved in the family business. When his father is shot though, Michael takes revenge on the people who did it and becomes a part of the Mafia lifestyle. When his older brother is murdered, Michael ascends to become the boss of the family, and proves to be more ruthless than his father and brother combined. The scene that I am analyzing is one where Michael is becoming his nephew’s godfather at his baptism.

The Godfather is a mob film focuses on the Corleone Family, with its head Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando) trying to find a suitable heir to his empire, while war is breathing down the neck of other crime families. Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) then steps in to organize the family back to shape. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based from the novel of the same name written by Mario Puzo. It received critical acclaim by critics and was cited as an influence by real life mobsters due to its rather realistic portrayal of gangster life and Cosa Nostra.

THE GODFATHER, made in 1974, details the Corleone crime family in Manhattan during the mid 1930s. The Don, Vito Corleone, played by Marlon Brando, leads his organization against a relentless narcotics push by a rival family, the Sollozzos. Vito Caleone does not want anything to do with drugs because he believes they will be the downfall of the Mafia. The story, covering a ten year time period, offers a rich tapestry of Mafia life from the inside, drawing the audience into witnessing the transfer of power within a close-knit family

Let’s start with the story of “The Godfather Part II”. The movie’s story is a continuation of where the first movie left off, which is with Michael Corleone as the new don, or head of the family. However, this film is quite different from the first, or any other movie as it shows two different stories at once. One story is of Michael Corleone’s fall and the numerous legal battles he goes through as he tries to legitimize his family business, and the other is the story of Michael’s father, Vito, and his rise to power from young adult to mafia leader. The story of Vito Corleone is shown through flashbacks that happen too often for my liking, and are not as entertaining as the

Mario Puzo’s "The Godfather" was the first and most influential gangster movie that paved the way for gangster movies of the future. The movie was directed by Frances Ford Copolla, who made many different ingenious ways to portray this gangster classic. The movie was a very subversive movie, and one of the first of all time.The Godfather has a many different uses of light settings through the whole movie, in which the movie can be interpreted on.

The Godfather presents Vito as the paradigmatic Mafia don. He is wise and intelligent, an excellent reader of others’ intentions, and a smooth, subtle talker, able to convince with words, not only bullets. Though a ruthless, violent criminal, Vito is also a warm, loving father and husband. In his later years, Vito comes across as relaxed and playful, even mellow. He has lived a rich, full life and earned a quiet retirement. Vito is both the perfect father and the perfect Godfather, making him a difficult model for all of his children, especially Michael, to imitate

Michael Corleone, the youngest son of Vito Corleone, initially doesn’t want to have anything to do with his family. He is apparently a law-abiding citizen and is evidently a war veteran. He seems to be a good-natured and tries to avoid identifying with Corleone activites, yet is fiercely loyal to his family, especially to his father. He is called by his peers as a civilian and refuses to acknowledge him as a criminal. Wnating to live an ordinary life was his choice, until an incident where he botched an assassination attempt on their patriarch; Vito Corleone, led to Michael trying to return the favor to Sollozo and McClusckey. This will eventually lead him entangled with the family affairs. With the family trying to prevent a war between other families, Michael starts to become more and more involved. His vengeful nature, coupled with his ruthless intellect earned the respect of his followers. He ordered the hit

“A man who doesn’t spend time with his family, can never be a real man” - Mario Puzo, The Godfather. As described in the novel Godfather, Don Corleone is a man who is passionate for obtaining respect, as well as repaying the favor. Don, a man of power, and much wisdom is very persuasive in using force to get what he wants. Throughout the Godfather, it will take many twists and turns into the lives of the mafia. It will reveal a world of crime, men on the run. Drugs, what such things